# Dave Rempis

Dave Rempis (born March 24, 1975) is an American free jazz saxophonist. He plays alto, tenor and baritone saxophone.

## Life and career

Dave was born in Wellesley, Massachusetts in 1975. He began his musical studies at the age of 8. In 1993, Rempis began a degree in classical saxophone at Northwestern University with Frederick Hemke. As part of his studies in anthropology, he spent a year at the International Centre for African Music and Dance at the University of Ghana in Legon, studying African music and ethnomusicology. After graduating from Northwestern in 1997, Rempis decided to focus on performing, and in March 1998 was asked to replace saxophonist Mars Williams in the Chicago jazz band The Vandermark Five, led by saxophonist Ken Vandermark.
During his tenure with The Vandermark Five, Rempis also began to develop many Chicago-based groups and cooperative units as Triage, The Rempis Percussion Quartet, The Engines, Ballister, and The Rempis/Daisy Duo. He recorded for labels such as Okka Disk, 482 Music, Clean Feed, Not Two, and Aerophonic, an artist-run label that Rempis founded in the winter of 2013. His collaborations include a wide variety of creative improvised music legends, ranging from Peter Brötzmann and John Tchicai to Joe McPhee and Roscoe Mitchell.
Rempis also works as a programmer in the Chicago area. He curated the weekly "Improvised Music" concert series at Elastic Arts (2002-2023), helped establish the Umbrella Music collective and its annual music festival, worked as lead organizer of the Downtown Sound Gallery concert series at Gallery 37, and organized the yearly Pitchfork Music Festival.

## Discography
### As leader/co-leader

| Release year | Title | Label | Personnel/Notes |
| 2001 | Premiun Plastics | Solitaire Records | As Triage; with Jason Ajemian [de] (bass), Tim Daisy [de] (drums) |
| 2003 | Twenty Minute Cliff | Okka Disk | As Triage; with Jason Ajemian (bass), Tim Daisy (drums) |
| 2004 | Out of Season | 482 Music | Quartet with Jim Baker [de] (piano), Jason Roebke [de] (bass), Tim Daisy (drums) |
| 2004 | American Mythology | Okka Disk | As Triage; with Jason Ajemian (bass), Tim Daisy (drums) |
| 2005 | Back to the Circle | Okka Disk | Duo with Tim Daisy (drums) |
| 2005 | Circular Logic | Utech Records | As The Rempis Percussion Quartet; with Anton Hatwich [de] (bass), Tim Daisy, Frank Rosaly (drums) |
| 2006 | Rip Tear Crunch | 482 Music | As The Rempis Percussion Quartet; with Anton Hatwich (bass), Tim Daisy, Frank Rosaly (drums) |
| 2006 | Stagger | Utech Records | As Triage; with Jason Ajemian (bass), Tim Daisy (drums) |
| 2007 | Hunter-Gatherers | 482 Music | As The Rempis Percussion Quartet; with Anton Hatwich (bass), Tim Daisy, Frank Rosaly (drums) |
| 2007 | The Engines | Okka Disk | As The Engines; with Jeb Bishop (trombone), Nate McBride [de] (bass), Tim Daisy (drums) |
| 2009 | The Disappointment of Parsley | Not Two | As The Rempis Percussion Quartet; with Anton Hatwich (bass), Tim Daisy, Frank Rosaly (drums) |
| 2010 | Cyrillic | 482 Music | Duo with Frank Rosaly (drums) |
| 2010 | Wire and Brass | Okka Disk | As The Engines; with Jeb Bishop (trombone), Nate McBride (bass), Tim Daisy (drums) |
| 2010 | Bastard String | Self-released | As the band Ballister; trio with Fred Lonberg-Holm (cello), Paal Nilssen-Love (drums) |
| 2011 | Montreal Parade | 482 Music | As The Rempis Percussion Quartet; with Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (bass), Tim Daisy, Frank Rosaly (drums) |
| 2012 | Instruments of Change | Not Two | As the band Construction Party; quartet with Forbes Graham [de] (trumpet), Pandelis Karayorgis (piano), Luther Gray [de] (drums) |
| 2012 | Mechanisms | Clean Feed | As the band Ballister; trio with Fred Lonberg-Holm (cello), Paal Nilssen-Love (drums) |
| 2013 | Other Violets | Not Two | As The Engines; with John Tchicai (tenor sax and flute), Jeb Bishop (trombone), Nate McBride (bass), Tim Daisy (drums) |
| 2013 | Mi Casa es en Fuego | Self-released | As the band Ballister; trio with Fred Lonberg-Holm (cello), Paal Nilssen-Love (drums) |
| 2013 | Phalanx | Aerophonic | As The Rempis Percussion Quartet; with Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (bass), Tim Daisy, Frank Rosaly (drums) |
| 2013 | Boss of the Plains | Aerophonic | As the band Wheelhouse; with Jason Adasiewicz (vibes), Nate McBride (bass) |
| 2014 | Both Ends | Bocian | As the band Ballister; trio with Fred Lonberg-Holm (cello), Paal Nilssen-Love (drums) |
| 2014 | Second Spring | Aerophonic | Duo with Tim Daisy (drums) |
| 2014 | Aphelion | Aerophonic | Trio with Joshua Abrams (bass), Avreeayl Ra [de] (percussion) |
| 2014 | Spectral | Aerophonic | Trio with Darren Johnston [de] (trumpet), Larry Osch [de] (tenor/sopranino saxophone) |
| 2015 | From Wolves to Whales | Aerophonic | Quartet with Nate Wooley [de] (trumpet), Pascal Niggenkemper [de] (bass), Chris Corsano (drums) |
| 2015 | Worse for the Wear | Aerophonic | As the band Ballister; trio with Fred Lonberg-Holm (cello), Paal Nilssen-Love (drums) |
| 2015 | Western Automatic | Aerophonic | As The Chicago Reed Quartet; with Nick Mazzarella [de] (alto sax), Mars Williams (sopranino/soprano/alto/tenor saxophone), Ken Vandermark (clarinet, bass clarinet, alto/tenor saxophone) |
| 2015 | Cash and Carry | Aerophonic | As The Rempis Percussion Quartet; with Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (bass), Tim Daisy, Frank Rosaly (drums) |
| 2018 | Hiljaisuus | Astral Spirits, Monofonus Press | As the band Kuzu; with Tashi Dorji [de] (guitar), Tyler Damon [de] (drums) |
| 2018 | Ithra | Aerophonic | Trio with Tomeka Reid (cello) and Joshua Abrams (bass) |
| 2019 | Lift to Drag | Medium Sound | As the band Kuzu; with Tashi Dorji (guitar), Tyler Damon (drums) |
| 2020 | Purple Dark Opal | Aerophonic | As the band Kuzu; with Tashi Dorji (guitar), Tyler Damon (drums) |
| 2020 | Of Things Beyond Thule Vol. 1 | Aerophonic | |
| 2020 | The COVID Tapes: Solos, Duos & Trios | Aerophonic | |
| 2021 | The Glass Delusion | Astral Spirits, Aerophonic | As the band Kuzu; with Tashi Dorji (guitar), Tyler Damon (drums) |
| 2021 | All Your Ghosts In One Corner | Aerophonic | As the band Kuzu; with Tashi Dorji (guitar), Tyler Damon (drums) |
| 2023 | Bennu | Aerophonic | Duo with Avreeayl Ra |
| 2023 | Sirocco | Aerophonic | Trio with Tim Daisy (d) and Mark Feldman (violin) |
| 2023 | Earscratcher | Aerophonic | Quartet with Fred Lonberg-Holm (cello), Tim Daisy (d), and Elizabeth Harnik (p) (recorded at Alte Gerberei, mixed by Markus Massinger) |
| 2024 | Lip | Aerophonic | Duo with gabby fluke-mogul (strings) |
| 2024 | Propulsion | Aerophonic | Jason Adasiewicz (v), Joshua Abrams (b), and Tyler Damon (d) |
| 2024 | Gnash | Aerophonic | Duo with Tashi Dorji (g) (recorded at Sugar Maple, mixed by David Zuchowski) |
| 2024 | Truss | Aerophonic | Quartet with Jakob Heinemann (b), Bill Harris (d), and Pandelis Karayorgis (recorded at Elastic Arts, mixed by David Zuchowski) |

### As sideman
#### with Audio One

| Release year | Leader | Title | Label |
| 2014 | Audio One | An International Report | Audiographic |
| 2014 | Audio One | The Midwest School | Audiographic |
| 2015 | Audio One | What Thomas Bernhard Saw | Audiographic |

#### with The Resonance Ensemble

| Release year | Leader | Title | Label |
| 2011 | The Resonance Ensemble | Kafka In Flight | Not Two |
| 2012 | The Resonance Ensemble | What Country Is This | Not Two |
| 2013 | The Resonance Ensemble | Head Above Water, Feet out of the Fire | Not Two |
| 2015 | The Resonance Ensemble | Double Arc | Not Two |

#### with The Territory Band

| Release year | Leader | Title | Label |
| 2000 | The Territory Band | Transatlantic Bridge | Okka Disk |
| 2002 | The Territory Band | Atlas | Okka Disk |
| 2004 | The Territory Band | Map Theory | Okka Disk |
| 2005 | The Territory Band | Company Switch | Okka Disk |
| 2006 | The Territory Band | New Horse for the White House | Okka sisk |
| 2007 | The Territory Band | Collide | Okka Disk |

#### with The Vandermark Five

| Release year | Leader | Title | Label |
| 1999 | The Vandermark 5 | Simpatico | Atavistic |
| 2000 | The Vandermark 5 | Burn the Incline | Atavistic |
| 2001 | The Vandermark 5 | Acoustic Machine | Atavistic |
| 2003 | The Vandermark 5 | Free Jazz Classics 1 & 2 | Atavistic |
| 2003 | The Vandermark 5 | Airports for Light | Atavistic |
| 2004 | The Vandermark 5 | Elements of Style | Atavistic |
| 2005 | The Vandermark 5 | The Color of Memory | Atavistic |
| 2006 | The Vandermark 5 | Free Jazz Classics 3 & 4 | Atavistic |
| 2006 | The Vandermark 5 | A Discontinuous Line | Atavistic |
| 2008 | The Vandermark 5 | Beat Reader | Atavistic |
| 2009 | The Vandermark 5 | Annular Gift | Not Two |
| 2010 | The Vandermark 5 | The Horse Jumps and the Ship Is Gone | Not Two |
| 2013 | The Vandermark 5 | Impressions of Po Music | Okka Disk |

#### others

| Release year | Leader | Title | Label |
| 2015 | Tim Daisy | Seven Compositions for Duet | Relay |
| 2009 | Paul Giallorenzo | Get In to Go Out | 482 Music |
| 2008 | Ingebrigt Håker Flaten | Year of the Board | Jazzland |
| 2008 | Keefe Jackson | Just Like This | Delmark |
| 2013 | Pandelis Karayorgis | Circuitous | Driff |
| 2014 | Pandelis Karayorgis | Afterimage | Driff |
| 2009 | Waclaw Zimpel | Four Walls | Multikulti |